Edelweiss: Twenty-Four Seconds from Now... Jason Reynolds
Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Published: 10/8/2024
Pages: 256
Genre: Realistic Fiction/YA/Coming of Age
Review: ARC from Edelweiss
Twenty-four months ago: Neon gets chased by a dog all around the parking lot of a church. Not his finest moment. And definitely one he would have loved to forget if it weren’t for the dog’s owner: Aria. Dressed in sweats, a t-shirt, hair in a ponytail. Aria. Way more than fine.
Twenty-four weeks ago: Neon’s dad insists on talking to him about tenderness and intimacy. Neon and Aria are definitely in love, and while they haven’t taken that next big step…yet, they’ve starting talking about…that.
Twenty-four days ago: Neon’s mom finds her—gulp—bra in his room. Hey! No judging! Those hook thingies are complicated! So he’d figured he’d better practice, what with the big day only a month away.
Twenty-four minutes ago: Neon leaves his shift at work at his dad’s bingo hall, making sure to bring some chicken tenders for Aria. They’re not candlelight and they definitely aren’t caviar, but they are her favorite.
And right this second? Neon is locked in Aria’s bathroom, completely freaking out because twenty-four seconds from now he and Aria are about to…about to… Well, they won’t do anything if he can’t get out of his own head (all the advice, insecurities, and what ifs) and out of this bathroom!
Twenty-four weeks ago: Neon’s dad insists on talking to him about tenderness and intimacy. Neon and Aria are definitely in love, and while they haven’t taken that next big step…yet, they’ve starting talking about…that.
Twenty-four days ago: Neon’s mom finds her—gulp—bra in his room. Hey! No judging! Those hook thingies are complicated! So he’d figured he’d better practice, what with the big day only a month away.
Twenty-four minutes ago: Neon leaves his shift at work at his dad’s bingo hall, making sure to bring some chicken tenders for Aria. They’re not candlelight and they definitely aren’t caviar, but they are her favorite.
And right this second? Neon is locked in Aria’s bathroom, completely freaking out because twenty-four seconds from now he and Aria are about to…about to… Well, they won’t do anything if he can’t get out of his own head (all the advice, insecurities, and what ifs) and out of this bathroom!
What has Jason written that I haven't fallen in love with!! The way he has with words to tell us a story he is always one of my favorite authors. I really love how we get to see a young black boy fall in love and all his emotions that go with it. It isn't just I love you and I'm done, but what he experiences leading up to the 'first time.' You could tell it was meaningful and not just rushed.
As we are reading we were going backward with the twenty-four seconds, at first, I kept wondering where we go with it, but as I kept diving further in I realized what Jason was doing with Neon's story. I really loved how down-to-earth the characters really seemed to be and I could feel the nervousness that Neon and Aria were feeling. I loved the story with the doorknockers and why they were made. It really seemed genuine. Will I put this in my library I think so, though I would put it for grades 12 as it does talk about the first time.
Jason Reynolds is an American author of novels and poetry for young adult and middle-grade audience. After earning a BA in English from The University of Maryland, College Park, Jason Reynolds moved to Brooklyn, New York, where you can often find him walking the four blocks from the train to his apartment talking to himself. Well, not really talking to himself, but just repeating character names and plot lines he thought of on the train, over and over again, because he’s afraid he’ll forget it all before he gets home.
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